Pack for skin diving equipment



Aug. 21, 1962 25 FIG. 5

P. B. HUYLEBROECK ETAL PACK FOR SKIN DIVING EQUIPMENT Filed June 6, 1960 FIG.2

INVENTOR. PAUL B.HUYLEBROECK DONALD B. POTENZA A TTORNEY United States Patent 3,050,180 PACK FOR SKIN DIVING EQUIPMENT Paul B. Huylebroeck, 76 E. 27th St., and Donald B. Potenza, 112 Lord Ave., both of Bayonne, NJ. Filed June 6, 1960, Ser. No. 34,329 1 Claim. (Cl. 206-1) Our invention relates to an improved pack for equipment used in skin diving, and particularly for the tank or cylinder which contains the air that the diver must breathe under water.

An important object of this invention is to provide a pack for parts of skin diving equipment; which includes mask, fins, snorkel, rubber suit, regulator, air cylinder, spear, gun, knife, depth gauge, compass, etc., and in fact everything needed for the sport, with the possible exception of the long spear. Such equipment is difiicult to carry, especially over quite long distances that are often encountered and must be traversed by walking from an automobile, for example, to the edge of the water in which the skin diver wishes to submerge. Such distances are not only long, but also maybe somewhat diflicult and arduous, because they frequently lie over rocky and sandy areas, which offer very difficult footing.

An object of the invention is to provide a pack in the form of a receptacle to contain practically all of the skin divers equipment; and especially the air tank, which is loaded with air under high compression, and must be guarded against damage when it is transported either by hand or in an automobile. Rough treatment can easily damage or break the discharge valve, and such a mishap might cause a disastrous explosion of the tank on account of the high pressure of the contents.

Another object of the invention is to provide a pack for a skin divers equipment in which the air cylinder and other items can be safely disposed and carried to the point of use; said pack including a receptacle with closure or cover adapted to enable the skin diver to strap the whole pack to his back at the shoulders and carry it safely as far as may be required.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention are set forth completely in the ensuing description and a structural design of the pack, comprising a receptacle or container and closure therefor, is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which shows a preferred form in which our invention is embodied. But we, of course, reserve the right to make changes in minor respects without altering the general design which contains the invention.

On the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a receptacle, this member forming the main part of the pack.

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of a closure or cover for said receptacle.

FIGURE 3 is a top plan of the complete pack with the closure for the open top of the receptacle and the compressed air containing cylinder in position.

FIGURE 4 is a diagrammatic view indicating the position of the straps by which the pack is secured to the person of the owner for carrying it as far as may be necessary; and

FIGURE 5 is a detail indicating the outline of the cover or closure in edge view or elevation.

FIGURE 1 illustrates in perspective the receptacle forming the greater part of the pack, this receptacle or storage member being indicated as a whole by the numeral 1. It is generally rectangular in cross-section and longitudinal section with a partly open top 2, sides 3, bottom 4, and ends 5. The receptacle or container has of course convenient length and depth, with sides, ends, etc., of suitable thickness, and with an opening 6 in the 3,050,180 Patented Aug. 21, 1962 top running the greater part of the length thereof. Along the sides of this opening are ribs or edges 7. One end 5 has a recess 8 below the opening 6, the bottom of this recess being curved on approximately the arc of a circle, and this end has notches 9 at both sides of the recess 8 just below the rib 6. The opposite end of this receptacle may be rounded as indicated, at the left of FIG- URE 1.

The closure or cover for the receptacle 1 is indicated by the numeral 10 in FIGURE 2. It is of such size and shape that it will completely fill the opening 6 in the top of the member 1, and at one extremity, this closure has a downward extending portion 11 at the proper angle to the closure of approximately the same shape and size as the recess 8. This portion of the cover has a sub stantially circular opening 12 of slightly smaller size than the recess 8, and this cover member is put in place on the member 1 by sliding it in through the recesses or notches 9, so that the ribs or edges 7 overlap opposite edges 13 of the cover, while the extremity opposite the part 11 engages with the inner end of this recess and may slightly overlap it on the outside of the top. The extremity of the closure member 10 which engages the inner end of the recess 6 has a slot 14 at each corner for a strap and additional slots 15 in pairs at the corners adjacent the downturned extremity 11. In the center of the lid are other openings or slots 16 for a purpose to be made clear later, and between the slots 14 at the end bearing the downturned part 11 is a pair of slots 17 for another strap.

In practise, the air cylinder 19 is secured to the inner face of the cover member 10 by means of a metal band 18, which passes through the slots 16 at the middle of the closure member and around the cylinder, being secured at the ends in any suitable manner. This air cylinder 19 is of such length that it will project a short distance out of the opening 12. When the closure member 10 is put on to cover the opening 6 in the top of the receptacle 1, the sides of the cover 10 of course lie under the rib 6 over the whole length of these sides and ribs, and the inner end of the cover is bent outward as indicated at 23 in FIGURE 5 and overlaps the adjacent edge of the opening 6.

When the cover member is in place as shown in FIG- URE 3, it is strapped to the back of the owner so that the cover member 10 is against the 'owners back. The receptacle hangs against the inner face of the portion 23. See FIGURE 5. This portion 23 of the cover 10 extends away from the plane of the cover and away from the top 6 when the cover is in place; and the side edges of the cover are then overlapped by the side edges of the opening 6. Hence, the receptacle and cover are securely engaged with each other. The st-rap by which the entire pack may be supported on the shoulders are shown diagrammatically in FIGURE 4 by the numeral 20. Such a strap can be passed through the slot 14 near corner of this cover member and down through the slots 15 in a corner at the opposite end through these slots, and the other slots 14 at the opposite corner, then through the opposite slots 15. The strap will be so arranged that there will be a belt or loop 19 for the front of the wearer at the part of the cover having the downturned part 11 and of course, this loop may carry a buckle so that the ends of the strap can be secured together from the lastnamed slots 15, the strap extending through the remaining slots 15. Another strap may be passed through the two slots 17 and down under the wearers crotch of the owner and secured to a ring or other device at the lower edge of the loop 19.

The entire pack can thus be conveniently stowed in a car, and guarded against jolting, and carried to the body of water, and when the water is reached the upper p 7 3 t part of the straps 20 are slipped off the owners arms and shoulders and the cover member 10 can be easily pulled off. The receptacle is large enough, so that the diving suit and other parts of the equipment can be stored therein around the cylinder 19; and as soon as the cover 10 is taken off, all of these articles can be removed.

Having described our invention, what we believe to be new is:

A pack for skin diving equipment comprising a receptacie having top, bottom, sides and ends, and having an elongated opening in its top beginning at one end of said receptacle, said opening having an inner end located short of the opposite end of said receptacle, said one end of said receptacle having also a recess communicating with said opening and a cover having side edges and one end downturned with an aperture therein, the side edges of the recess having notches to receive the side edges of the cover, the notches being below the side edges of said opening, so that said edges overlap the side edges of the cover when the cover is disposed in said opening, the

downturned end of the cover fitting said recess when the cover is fully in place, said cover having slots therein for the passage of shoulder straps by which the pack may be supported upon the owners back, the cover having its edge at the inner end of said opening extending out of the plane thereof and away from said top when the cover is in place so that when the receptacle is mounted on the back of the wearer the receptacle will engage the last-named end of the cover along the inner edge of the opening in the receptacle and the receptacle will hang on said cover when the straps are in engagement with the wearers shoulders and the receptacle is mounted on the wearers back.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,486,415 Casper Mar. 11, 1924 1,531,152 Steen Mar. 24, 1925 2,620,081 Lear Dec. 2, 1952 

